Koch-Kalu show leads the way for KBME in monthly radio ratings

With the Texans out of the playoff picture and KBME’s (790 AM) midday team of Greg Koch and N.D. Kalu rapidly becoming the most popular sports radio duo in town, sports radio audiences for the January ratings book from Nielsen Audio adjusted accordingly from January 2013 numbers.

For the period Jan. 2-29, KILT, the Texans flagship station, ranked 12th among all stations in men 25-54, the key demographic for sports radio, with a 3.3 audience share for the Monday-Sunday weeklong ratings. That’s down from a 4.6 percent share for January 2013. KBME (790 AM) was at 1.8, up from 1.4 a year ago, thanks in large part to continued growth for the Koch-Kalu show. KFNC (97.5 FM) dropped to 1.0 from 1.4 a year ago, and KGOW (1560 AM) had a 0.2 percent share after failing to register in January 2013.

Turning to the weekday dayparts, In morning drive time (6-10 a.m.), KBME moved into first place among sports stations and eighth overall with a 3.7 percent share, just ahead of KILT at 3.6, thanks in large part to a gargantuan first hour in that daypart from Kalu and Koch. A year ago, KILT was at 5.6 and KBME at 2.0. KFNC was at 1.0 and KGOW at 0.3.

In middays (10 a.m.-3 p.m.), KILT was at 3.8 to 1.5 for KBME, 1.2 for KBME and 0.2 for KGOW. KILT was at 4.1 in January 2013 while KBME held steady, no mean feat given the unfortunate addition of the midday syndicated Jay Mohr show.

In afternoon drive (3-7 p.m.), the first month for KILT with Sean Pendergast replacing Josh Innes alongside Rich Lord produced a 3.3 percent share for KILT, down from 5.2 in January 2013. KBME was at 1.9, down a tenth of a point. KFNC at 1.4 and KGOW at 0.2 rounded out the field.

From 7 p.m. to midnight, KILT was at 2.1, KBME at 1.1 and KFNC at 1.0, KGOW did not register. KILT had a 2.8 percent share in January 2013.

Let’s move to show-by-show numbers. Koch and Kalu are averaging a 5.4 share for their two-hour show (9-11 a.m.) on KBME, which is the best number for any sports show in January. Lance Zierlein and Adam Clanton had a 3.1 share from 6-9 a.m., Matt Thomas was at 1.3 from 2-4 p.m. and Charlie Pallilo had a 2.1 share from 4-7 p.m. The Jay Mohr show had a 0.5 share from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Even though its numbers are down from a year ago, KILT is a consistent performer across the board. John Lopez and Nick Wright have a 3.6 share from 6-10 a.m., Mike Meltser and Seth Payne have a 3.8 share from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and Lord and Pendergast have a 3.5 share from 2-6 p.m. The combination of Ted Johnson and Texans radio had a 2.4 share from 6-10 p.m.

Elsewhere, the Jerome Solomon-Dave Tepper (noon-2 p.m.) and Fred Faour-A.J. Hoffman (4-7 p.m.) shows were in the 1.3 range in January on KFNC, and KGOW’s John Granato-Sean Salisbury show had a 0.2 share from 3-7 p.m.

In the broadest demo, persons 12-plus, KILT had a 2.2 share in the weeklong numbers to 0.9 for KBME, 0.5 for KFNC and 0.1 for KGOW.

At this point we generally would turn to the rest of the market, but the debut in January of Clear Channel’s new urban format at KQBT (93.7 FM), the former KKRW, had such a strong showing in January that we will deal with it in a separate entry to come.